I have to confess that sometimes I’m a bit of a snob. I look around the supermarket at packs of ready grated cheese and plastic containers of mashed potatoes (which, when I check the ingredients are literally potatoes, butter, salt and pepper). I scoff at ‘oven ready’ meals and individually wrapped Babybel (even thought Little Miss Green begs me for them).

This week, however the shoe has been on the other foot, so to speak.

Both Mr Green and I have been ill. Bad timing, right? It’s not so bad if ONE of you is ill, but we both took to our sick beds at the same time to compare symptoms and loudness of groans.

Neither of us were fit for shopping so I indulged in a little online shopping and arranged supermarket home delivery. What a fantastic creation that is!

I shuffled to the front door in my furry slippers and appalling bed hair to be greeted by two exceptionally friendly staff who bought most of my delivery in crates rather than plastic bags and offered to take all my bags away for recycling.

Yipee!

But here’s the deal…

Along with our raging temperature, snot and other delights exuding from, what felt like, every orifice I had a severe case of CBA; otherwise known as “Can’t be Arsed”. It’s a terrible infliction which is incurable and currently has no known treatment. The thought of standing in the kitchen on Sunday, wielding a sharp knife and chopping board was enough to have me returning to my bed in a flash.

So I gave into some of the conveniences of 21st century life.

I didn’t quite manage to buy the pre grated cheese, but I DID buy ready chopped cabbage and leek and frozen roast parsnips.

Sunday arrived and I was popping my new purchases into their saucepans and roasting tins when my beautiful family came in. Mr Green looked at me aghast “Mrs GREEN!” he announced “I can’t believe you bought that” he said pointing to the cabbage. Little Miss Green said “Oh my God; I can’t believe you’ve bought me ready roast parsnips, in a plastic bag!”

So there we have it. After 2 years of telling the nation how to do it I’m now officially telling you how NOT to do it. But when pushed for comment after their meals, both Mr and Little Miss Green had to admit the food tasted pretty good 😉

I am a long time supporter of the Green and Sustainable lifestyle. After being caught in the Boscastle floods in 2004, our family begun a journey to respect and promote the importance of Earth's fragile ecosystem, that focussed on reducing waste. Inspired by the beauty and resourcefulness of this wonderful planet, I have published numerous magazine articles on green issues and the author of four books.

Hi Mrs. Green,
well having come down with the same lurgy as you this week including having no voice I also opted for the easy out. I went for Indian take-away or at least I sent my husband for it. I wish you could take your own containers to these places so you don’t have to bring home another set of plastic containers every time you go there. I’ll have to go and talk to them about it; maybe we could come to some arrangement.

@maisie dalziel: Thanks Maisie; all good now thanks! Just getting tired and ready for bed at 8pm!
@Colleen: Sorry to hear you have been unwell Colleen. It would be great if your indian takeaway could help you with packaging waste. We’re lucky in that ours use foil so we can reuse / recycle them 😉 Hope you are better now.

There’s nothing wrong with CBA occasionally but there’s something wrong with CBA all the time! Don’t understand your choice of chopped cabbage – it is so easy to chop. Won’t buy mashed potato because we like to add our own salt (if any) for health reasons – and have decided peeling spuds is such a waste of time and potato so tend to eat them with skins on – roast, baked or boiled/steamed. An exception is the very occasional sausages, beans and mash, and cottage pie (so both have now attained indulgence status). Have never bought frozen cooked parsnips but can see a possibility of trying those instead of traipsing around looking for fresh ones (roast dinner isn’t the same without them… but sweet potatoes are an untraditional addition.) Pillow packs of water cress, rocket and spinach salad are still my hardest to give up unrecyclable packaging. Tired and ill I’m more likely to buy a ready meal with mostly recyclable packaging ie everything except the piece of film across the top.

Last weekend was a miserably wet one with a visiting relative fighting a heavy cold. A nice spicy chilli made from storecupboard ingredients helps clear the head. The Eden Project’s spicy chickpea and tomato soup is also good. And don’t forget the chicken soup! If you freeze your stock every time you roast a chicken then you can have some left over to make your own quick and tasty soup (avoiding the excessive amount of salt in stock cubes). It is just sooo much nicer.

I hope you are feeling better now, we where both struck with this at the same time too. just both left with coughing now. I wish I had thought of that, sounds good to me, well we cant all be perfect all of the time. LOL

were i your neighbor, i would drown you both with homemade chicken broth with basil and rosemary to scare the virus away, and draw you a rosemary bath with epsom salts to wash the toxins down the drain..with green love, and midwest sunshine today, ns
ps: ms Green could help me do the wash up and sweeping?

Why on earth are you beating yourself up about this?? You, as a family, have been sooo inspirational to all of us, think of the extreme efforts all three of you make! The bugs that are currently flying around are terrible (they have even reached Wales you know).
What I like best about you is, despite the high ideals you have, you are not ashamed to admit when you fall off the band wagon. It proves that you are human and that we can all do what you are doing without fear of disappointing ourselves or making a fool of ourselves in front of others, well done! I have not yet got over that embarrasment and self consciousness.
I trust you are all on the mend.

@Jane: I agree about home made soup, although the Eden Project brand is not one I’ve come across before; it sounds good.
@sandy: We’re all good now, thanks. Sorry to hear you’ve been unwell as well.
@nadine sellers: You would be the perfect neighbour in so many ways, Nadine. I feel better already 😉
@H0gg1t: thanks for your lovely comment H0gg1t; I appreciate your kind thoughts.

I hope you and Mr. Green are feeling better. I was about to side with Little Miss Green by saying that the netting on the Mini Baybel Cheeses could be stuffed and reused as a pot scrubber and the wax melted into candles (I’ve done it. In the microwave no less!) but then I forgot about the plastic wrapper over the cheese wax.

@Mrs Green: The Eden Project Moroccan Chickpea and Tomato Soup isn’t a brand (as far as I know) it is a yummy storecupboard recipe that you can find on the web. Do have a go at making it – and you can make it as spicy as you like ie spicier if you are bunged up with a cold!
@Condo Blues: Great effort! I wonder if that netting is recyclable? Some of the netting on Sainsbury’s fruit (and onions?) is marked up as ‘recyclable in a larger Sainsbury’s store’ Great stuff about the candles and the red cellophane is rather pretty. At this time of year it could be used in making Christmas decorations for the tree, Christmas cards, or amongst the decorations in a wreath for the door to give it more use in its life… We always used to pile all the wax together to make a ball. Makes you want to chuck it back when something isn’t minimal, recyclable or compostable!